The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is a full service local law enforcement agency providing service to approximately 145,699 residents and thousands of annual visitors to Stafford County, Virginia. The Department provides service through 284 dedicated employees, including 207 sworn deputy sheriffs. The Department conducts multiple activities to prevent crimes, engages in community policing efforts and activities, and strives for close, positive relationships with community members and organizations. The Department answers over 70,000 calls for service from the community annually.

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office employs a Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit to create a stronger, safer, and more secure county by working with the community and citizens we serve as well as our regional, state, and federal partners to protect against the ever-evolving threats facing the region.

The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit is Stafford County’s primary local resource to guard against threats and help build a resilient community. The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit is divided into three groups: the Counterterrorism Information Center, the Technical Response Group, and the Emergency Services Group.

These three groups within the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit are designed for the collection of vital information to safeguard the community; a prepared response in the event of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive attacks; the protection of critical infrastructure facilities; and the investigation and deterrence of terrorist attacks.

Funds from this grant will be utilized to purchase several pieces of equipment vital to the mission of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit. Funds from this grant will be utilized to purchase three foldable ballistic shields. Active Shooter incidents present a clear and present danger to the safety of the public. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is continually training and equipping sworn personnel with the tools to effectively respond and mitigate an active shooter incident. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office has six patrol squads to provide twenty-four hour coverage for law enforcement response in Stafford County. The Sheriff’s Office currently has three foldable ballistic shields which are currently distributed to three of the six patrol squads. The purchase of three additional foldable ballistic shields would allow for each patrol squad to readily have a ballistic shield deployable in the event of an active shooter.

In addition to the three foldable ballistic shields, funds from this grant will be utilized to purchase two rifle grade ballistic shields. These shields are different than the above mentioned shields. The foldable ballistic shields are rated to stop handgun rounds. Rifle grade shields are rated to stop high-powered rifle rounds that are fired from such weapons as an AR-15 or AK-47. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office currently has two rifle grade ballistic shields. One is assigned to the Stafford County Sheriff’s SWAT Team and the other is assigned to our Patrol Division. The two new rifle grade shields would allow for enhanced county-wide coverage by allowing our Patrol Division, which includes our School Resource Officer Unit, accessibility to these enhanced shields in the event of an active shooter incident where a high-powered rifle is being utilized as a weapon.

Lastly, funds from this grant would be utilized to purchase a new projector for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office training room. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office has a designated training room where courses of instruction such as active shooter, legal matters, and various other law enforcement topics are taught. This room is also utilized to conduct mission briefings on large scale events such as incidents that would fall under the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Unit. The current projector in the training room is ten years old, failing and in dire need of replacement. The new projector is instrumental in allowing effective briefings or trainings to be conducted utilizing computer programs such as PowerPoint and mapping programs. The tactical equipment and audio-visual equipment requested are critical pieces to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office’s terrorism preparedness.